Display cabinet



Jan- 28, 1941- j J. E. GAUVREAU l 2,230,200

DISPLAY CABINET Filed may 1, 1939 2 sheets-sheet 1 Jan- 28, 1941. -J. E. GAUVREAU DISPLAY CABINET Filed may 1, 1939 2 sheets-sheer 2 Patented Jan. 28, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISPLAY CABINET ration of Massachusetts Application May 1, 1939, Serial No. 271,163

3 Claims.

My invention relates to cabinets for use in displaying and dispensing merchandise, particularly confectionery, and it has for its object to provide an improved cabinet of this class.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an improved cabinet of the class indicated which will be particularly adapted for use upon a store counter; which can be produced at a minimum cost, and whose contents will not only be attractively displayed to customers but can be conveniently and expeditiously dispensed and replenished.

To these ends I have provided an improved display cabinet having the features of construction and mode of operation set forth in the following description, the several novel features of the invention being separately pointed out and defined in the claims at the close thereof.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a display cabinet constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the cabinet shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Fig. 3 with the pan, hereinafter referred to, removed and with the prop member, also hereinafter referred to, in extended position.

The illustrated embodiment of my invention comprises a box-like housing made with a rearwardly inclined transparent front wall I0 of glass or the like; a bottom wall or transverse base member II; two oppositely disposed side walls I2, I2, and a top wall I3. The bottom, side and top walls are fastened together in any suitable manner and are preferably made from wood, but any other suitable material may be employed in lieu thereof. 'I'he transparent pane of glass I0 is held in position by a sheet metal frame I4 that is fastened in any suitable manner to the bottom, top and side walls.

Pivotally connected by hinges I5 with the rear end of bottom wall I I is a prop member or panel IB which also may be made of wood, if desired, and by swinging said member I6 on hinges I5 it may be caused to occupy either the full line position shown in Fig. 3 or the dotted line position shown in said figure. When the prop member I6 is swung upwardly and forwardly from the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 its movement in that direction is limited by the engagement of a pair of posts Il carried by member I6 with the top side of the bottom wall I I, and when said prop member occupies its full line position (Cl. S12-114) with the stop posts I'l resting on top of bottom wall I I said prop member is normal to the plane of the front transparent wall I0, as shown.

When the prop member IB occupies the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 a pan of confectionery I8 may be placed in position upon the bottom wall II and the posts I'I of prop member I6 as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3. The pan I8 is made with a flange I9 adapted to rest upon the posts I'I and when the prop member is swung upwardly and forwardly toward its full line position, Fig. 3, the pan I8 is swung pivotally upon its forward end into a position where it is parallel with the transparent front wall I0 as shown by full lines in Fig. 3. Upstanding abutment posts 20 provided upon the bottom wall II adjacent to the transparent front Wall ID hold the lower end of the pan properly spaced away from the transparent front wall, while the upper end of the pan may, as shown, be wedged against the top Wall I3, thus when the prop member I6 occupies the full line position, shown in Fig. 3, it also is wedged into position against the pan and frictionally held in pan-holding position against accidental displacement.

Within the housing the two corners at the top thereof are filled in with corner blocks 2| having their exposed inner surfaces curved to conform with, and fit close to, the periphery of the ilange I9 on pan I8. The width of the interior of the housing closely approximates, but is slightly more than, the width of the pan. Thus flies and the like are excluded from the compartment existing between the pan I8 and the transparent front wall I0 when the pan is in position within the housing. Also, the corners at the bottom of the interior of the housing between pan I8 and the transparent front wall IU are filled in and closed by corner blocks 22 against which the lower marginal portion of the pan is pressed and held by the prop member I6.

The free end of the prop member I6 is formed at its middle with a notch 23 which provides a finger-hole for use in manually swinging the prop member from its full line position, Fig. 3, into its `dotted line position.

What I claimlis:

1. A display cabinet adapted to receive within it a removable pan of confectionery or the like that is to be displayed, said cabinet comprising a housing made with an inclined transparent front wall, a top wall, two oppositely disposed side walls and a horizontal bottom wall, and a prop member pivotally connected at its one end with the rear end of said bottom wall, said prop member being adjustable on said pivotal connection so as to occupy either a forwardly inclined position Within said housing Where it is disposed approximately perpendicularly with respect to the bottom of the pan and in endwise abutting engagement With said bottom so as to removably and directly support said pan in position Within the cabinet and parallel With said transparent front Wall, or so as to occupy a. horizontal pansupporting position at the rear of said bottom Wall Where it serves as an extension of the latter.

2. A display cabinet constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein said housing is made inmovement in that direction it is approximately 10 normal to the plane of said transparent front Wall.

JOSEPH E. GAUVREAU. 

